


Compassion will be our undoing (one shot)

by bensoloren



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, Movie: Star Wars: The Last Jedi, One Shot, Star Wars - Freeform, The Last Jedi - Freeform, kylo ren x armitage hux
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-27
Updated: 2018-04-27
Packaged: 2019-04-28 17:55:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14454657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bensoloren/pseuds/bensoloren
Summary: After finding the supreme leader during a particularly nasty meltodwn, Hux decides to take matters into his own hands and makes sure Ren is calmed down in a way that doesn't lead to the total destruction of the entire ship. Hux finds himself wrestling with feelings he's been trying to ignore for a while.





	Compassion will be our undoing (one shot)

For a brief ten seconds Armitage Hux considered killing him, even now he wonders why he hadn’t gone through with it. Ren had been nothing more than a liability, and the general suspected the man had more to do with the Supreme leader’s death than he had admitted. He should have done it, executed him on suspicion of treason but something in those eyes had stopped him. He remembers those eyes, the long lingering glances they’d given one another over the past five years. Soft looks that had become hardened when they had locked eyes. When he stares down at Kylo Ren, he see’s not the knight, but the conflicted man who’s always had trouble following his orders. Hux has risen through the ranks because of his dedication, his organizational skills and his uncanny ability to do what needs to be done no matter what the cost. Ren is a liability because his emotions rule his very being, he has been responsible for damage done to the finalizer more often than the general liked. His temper was explosive and he often through temper tantrums like a child. The problem however was that Kylo Ren was not a child, nor a teenager going through adolescence. He was a grown man who didn’t know how to control his emotions.

The showdown with Skywalker was messy, it was stupid and quite easily a distraction but Ren so haunted by his desire for revenge couldn’t see what was written so clearly in the mans actions. Luke was a distraction. The resistance had fled, had disappeared and now they were left holding the remnants of their new supreme leader’s actions. Hux was furious, if he could overthrow him he would but as loathe as he was to admit it, Ren held more power over him, no matter how loyal Hux’s soldiers were to him. Skywalker is gone, Ren claims to have felt a disturbance in the force, whatever the hell that means. The general has never much liked the idea of the force, and he’s liked it even less since Ren had appeared. The other man had a habit of throwing him around like a rag doll when he was angry, less than Snoke had but the anger and intent was there. Hux could feel that harshness in the other mans gaze as much as the softness that is sometimes thrown his way. 

It’s a complicated mess of emotions, each disliking the other and yet some part of them feeling drawn to one another. To want to comfort the other during taxing situations. Hux grows tired of this compassion he feels for Kylo Ren. This tiredness however does not stop him from reaching out when Ren destroys yet another useful device in his fit of rage. Hux grew tired of these games, he had gone into the training room intent on telling Ren this was a waste of resources, only to find the new supreme leader curled up in the corner of the room, objects flying around the room of what could be misinterpreted of their own accord. He was losing control. Hux had seen him angry before, had watched as he deliberately teared apart the training area but he’d never seen him completely out of control. Ren looks like a scared child, his face paler than usual, his fingers curling in on themselves as he rocks back and forth.

Any ounce of anger the general had felt disappeared within an instant. The lighting was dimmed, no doubt the supreme leaders doing. He can see how Ren hides behind his hair in this moment, the dark tendrils protecting his face from Hux’s line of sight. He realises this is probably deliberate. Ren feels vulnerable and he doesn’t like it so he’s trying to protect himself. Snoke had always said compassion was a persons undoing, such an emotion only lead to weakness. He hates that compassion is exactly what he feels for this man. He can’t understand why, he should hate him for taking a title that belonged to him, he should want the man dead. His emotions and lack of control over them would surely be the first orders undoing and yet instead of taking a blaster to him like he should of done in the throne room, he marches towards him, sitting down beside him.

It goes against everything he believes, the first order must always come first but how can they come first if their supreme leader is currently a sobbing mess in the training room unable to stop moving things by mere thought?. No, this won’t do at all. Hux doesn’t much like physical contact unless it’s training or stopping on some backwater planet for a quick fuck with a stranger. Other than that, there’s really no use for it. Affection has no place in the first order, affection was dangerous. Despite knowing all this however he reaches out, a motion that feels robotic, and pulls Ren to him in a somewhat surprising motion. Words are not exchanged, Ren flinches at first, looks as if he’d like to pull away but slumps against him instead. Using his other hand, Hux runs fingers through dark hair, pushing it back from a heavily scarred face. He has a strange urge to trace it but has a feeling that action would not be welcome and may produce an angry response. The general has wish to ruin this moment. Ren’s breaths become a little less laboured, the small amount of affection being shown is soothing him and it makes Hux wonder just how long the man has been without a gentle touch.

Hux doesn’t need such luxuries or so he tells himself, besides the last gentle touch he’d ever felt had been from his mother and he doesn’t even remember it. She’d been dead too long. The training room is in disarray as he looks at it but everything is back on the floor which is a step in the right direction. The red of the walls feels too jarring, as if it’s taunting him over all they have lost since Snoke’s death. Ren’s sobs have become nonexistence, a flutter of eyelashes suggests the man is exhausted. “Come, you cannot sleep here.” His tone is commanding, like the general he is and he half expects the man to fight him but Ren doesn’t. That’s quite surprising, instead the supreme leader simply looks at him like a lost puppy. Hux isn’t quite sure what to do with that, so he busies himself with helping the man to his feet. He doesn’t have much of a game plan here except to get Ren to his quarters, so he can sleep this mood off. It does occur to him however that leaving him alone right now is probably not the best idea. 

Once they’re on their feet, Hux makes sure not to reach for Ren although he’d quite like to. They have appearances to keep up should they meet anyone on their journey to the apartments aboard the ship. Each apartment is modest, for the crew members of lower status they were simple, a bedroom, a bathroom. Nothing more nothing less. For a general like Hux they were a little more lavish. Considering who Ren was however, he had a feeling the supreme leader’s quarters, even before all this had been twice the size of his own. He chooses to not think about that and isn’t even sure why his mind went wandering. Carefully, Hux leads them to his own apartment, this way he can keep an eye on Ren whilst he’s sleeping and make sure he doesn’t destroy anything else.

Once they arrive, he opens the door and as gently as possible shoves the Supreme leader into the room. Ren is still as quiet as he had been in the training room, he doesn’t even comment on just how organized and ridiculously clean the rooms are. Hux finds that completely out of character but then nothing about this is normal. “Here.” He takes his hand, it’s an action that feels a little alien to Hux, and yet there’s an edge of comfort to it, an intimacy that he has denied himself for years. He leads him to the bed, it’s quite generous, not as lavish as it could be but Hux cared very little for luxuries. Sitting the man down on the bed is a little more complicated, Ren has long limbs and doesn’t seem to be able to use them very well at this moment. Hux privately thinks of all the other things he could be doing right now and yet not one of them seems as important as this.

When the general looks at Ren, he can tell the man isn’t entirely here. He’s barely taking notice of his surroundings, and when he lays back upon the bed, his eyes are glued to the ceiling. Hux lets go of his hand, about to step away and grab his holotablet so that he can work on some things, when Ren speaks his voice thick and raspy. “Stay…please.” Those were two words that Hux had not expected to hear. He contemplates it for a second and then sighs inaudibly. He carefully lays down beside the supreme leader, wondering just how awkward this would be when Ren awoke later. They lay side by side saying nothing for about five minutes before Ren reaches for him, trying to pull him closer. Hux finds himself obliging, he carefully curls against the man, resting his face against the mans shoulder.

“Thank you.” Ren’s voice is once again a murmur, raspy and thick. Hux says nothing, there’s not much he can say, he can only admit that his compassion for this man is getting the better of him and in the end it’s going to be his undoing. “You never have to thank me for this.” The man murmurs. He can feel the weight of it all in his chest. The words, the emotion and Ren can feel it too, is no doubt probing around inside his mind. Ren seems to sense his train of thought because he turns his head, lips brushing against Hux’s forehead, an action that surprises the both of them. “I’m really tired.” Ren murmurs, his voice laden with exhaustion. “I know. It’s alright Ren, go to sleep. I’m here.” Hux closes his eyes as he makes this declaration, his hand gently resting against the mans chest. Ren makes a sound, eyes slipping closed. They stay like this for a while, just holding one another with no words spoken.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been thinking about the concept of post tlj for a while and just had to write something for these two! i hope you enjoy (:


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